What Is A Church?

This was written a few years back and I never put this on-line before. I never put it on line because it is unlike my normal style. I was trying to be as simplistic and as accessible as possible. Not sure if that makes it better or worse then my normal fare. To my eye it seems a little condescending and I already have issues with arrogance coming through with my writing. But I decided to put it on line so I would have some kind of back up of it in case something happened to the electronics at the house.

What is a church? What is the function or purpose of a church? Throughout history these questions have divided those who have called themselves Christians. In part, that which is historians call the “protestant reformation” was about the nature and function of the Church. But even among those Christians commonly considered to be “Protestants” there is much division historically and otherwise as to the nature of what the church is and what its purpose is.

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The Faith Of Christ And The Songs We Sing

What is faith?

When I was a young child I went to a live enactment of Peter Pan. We children were enjoined to clap our hands and believe so that Tinker Bell would live. Even though I was a child, I was angry and insulted that we were being asked to believe that my belief or lack therefore had any impact on Tinker Bell living. If it was up to me, she would have died on the spot. Fortunately for the script, the other children were more tractable.

Is faith clapping your hands and believing what the nice man on the stage tells you to believe?

There are many who grew up in Christian churches for whom the Christian faith is no different than children clapping their hands so that Tinker Bell can live. The lived it. They grew up in it. They found nothing but fakery and make believe in the entire experience. For them faith is a dirty word. An expression used only by charlatans and the credulous. Continue reading